In the study of foreign language, for example, it is possible to purchase cassette tapes or records of words and phrases. However, in using them, it is difficult to rewind the tape to repeat the phrase and difficult or impossible to record and playback the student's voicing of the word or phrase. If a loop recorder is used, the loop length is fixed and the entire loop must be traversed before a phrase can be repeated. These difficulties severely limit the learning process.
The invention combines an all electronic recording and reproducing storage means with a conventional magnetic tape "recorder", which is at the same time a "player" or other source such that the last phrase from the source is held in an electronic store, and can be reproduced as many times as desired by the student without having to rewind or backspace the source.
By the same process, the student can record his voicing of the phrase in a different portion of the electronic memory and can then selectively reproduce the teaching phrase or his response, re-recording his voicing until satisfied.
The application of the invention already discussed and to be discussed in greater detail hereinafter relates to the application of the invention to the learning of a foreign or "second" language. However, it would be apparent that the invention also has application in learning by the visually handicapped or in speech therapy where repetition and or record/playback by the user are important.
There is a demand for an electronic store and the means to convert the audio information into digital form for storage in the store and means for converting the digital information stored in the store back into audio form on reproduction.
There is also a demand for control circuitry to selectively record from several sources and to enable selective reproduction of the information stored. This circuitry automatically assigns a starting address for each record and keeps track of that address and the ending address enabling the selective playback of each record even though the various records are stored contiguously in the same electronic store.
It is desired that control circuitry be available for the selective generation of a "side tone" during recording. For instance, when recording from a tape source, it is desirable to have a side tone; when recording the student voicing, a side tone is undesirable.